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How to make up riddles

BY READERS DIGEST

19th Mar 2021 Life

How to make up riddles

You would have seen several websites providing riddles for teenagers. Riddles are fun to ask and solve. It is a privilege to ask a riddle that no one has ever heard before. So, many people try to figure out such rare and interesting riddles to ask their mates.

If you are looking to find such a riddle, it is better to create a riddle yourself. It is not an impossible task to create a riddle. If you know the format and necessities of a riddle, you can make up your riddle with little effort. In this article, let us discuss the process of creating a riddle yourself in brief. 

 

Process of creating a riddle

 

Read riddles 

 

If you wish to create a riddle, it is necessary to know what it means in the first place. You can get to understand the concept of a riddle only when you read hundreds of already existing riddles. You can choose to read those riddles that are in line with the concept you are thinking of creating. There are funny riddles and intelligent riddles. You should know the various types and formats of riddles also. Once you read several riddles, you can get the overall idea of how a riddle will look like and what does it contain. You can find these riddles online and through applications or movies. English literature has several riddles that could help you know about the process. 

 

Fix your subject

 

While sitting to write a riddle, you have to think of the subject first. The subject does not mean anything complicated. It is just the concept where your answer lies. For instance, if your answer is onion, your subject is an object or a vegetable. Likewise, you can have various subjects. Some riddles will have calculations and numbers, while some of them will have a natural phenomenon as the answer. Once you decide on a subject, you will get ways to form a riddle based on any of the elements within it. 

 

Find the length of your riddle

 

You would have seen riddles of three to four words along with those that are lengthy sentences. So, you have to decide the length of your riddle beforehand. Only after this, you can form a riddle that fits in your assumption. Without clarity in the size of the riddle, you will not end up making one. You can keep your riddles short or long. However, the listeners should be able to follow the context without any complexities. There are some factors to consider while you form a riddle of any length. So, you should decide based on your wish.

 

Go simple

 

If you make a riddle about a particular chemical compound, no one can find it out. You should make sure that the answer and the riddle are simple for a layman. 

 

Start with the solution.

 

You cannot create a riddle by thinking from the question. If you do so, you will not even know the answer. So, you could develop the question in the first place. Hence, it is always necessary to begin your riddle formation from the answer. For instance, let us consider that you are about to ask a riddle whose answer is an onion. Once you know this answer, you can think of the possible ways of forming a puzzle on your own. So, you should keep in mind that knowing the answer before forming the question is vital in riddle creation. 

 

Analyse your answer 

 

Once you have chosen your answer, you have to brainstorm the possible characteristics of your solution. For instance, let us assume that your answer for the riddle is ice. So, you can collect the facts like the ability of ice to melt during heating and its freezing chillness. Once you know these facts about your answer, you can add them to your question or the riddle. You can add the abilities of your solution if there are any. For instance, a plane can fly in the sky. It is enough to gather three or more facts or characteristics of your answer to form the question of the riddle. So, you should analyse your answer to create the puzzle after finding it. 

 

Think of metaphors

 

If you say anything directly related to your answer, people will easily find it out. So, you should use metaphors or words closely resembling the terms you want to use in the question. For instance, you can say bird instead of an airplane as both would look similar and fly in the sky. Once you have chosen the right metaphorical terms, you can start writing your riddle. There is no compulsion for your puzzle to be rhythmic or rhyming. If possible, you can use words that make your question sound like a rhyme. 

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